Variety of music populates this weekend in Topeka

Musical choices range from kids entertainer to blues greats to jazz big band

The Lawrence-based Brody Buster Band will perform from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday to kick off the Back to School Blues Fish Fry at Specks Bar & Grill, 2105 S.W. Mission. Charlie Barber, Blue 88 and Rockin' Jake also will perform.

Child development specialist and acclaimed children's entertainer Jim Gill will perform at free family concert from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday in Marvin Auditorium of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, 1515 S.W. 10th.

Jazz trombonist Bill Watrous will be the guest artist with the Topeka Jazz Workshop Band when it performs the opening concert of the 46th annual Topeka Jazz Workshop Inc. Concert Series from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Regency Ballroom of the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th.

Texas-based singer-songwriter Vanessa Lively makes her third Last Minute Folk series appearance when she kicks off its fall set at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Topeka, 4751 S.W. 21st.

A weekend of blues at Uncle Bo's, the nightspot on the lower level of the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th, gets started at 7:30 p.m. Friday with a return engagement of Dan Treanor's Afrossippi Band, featuring vocalist Erica Brown.

The weekend brings the start of two concert series as well as some musical fundraisers and special events.

Here are some highlights:

Back to School Blues Fish Fry

Speck’s Bar & Grill, 2105 S.W. Mission, will deliver piping hot deep-fried fish and blazing blues at its Back to School Blues Fish Fry from 2 to 11 p.m. Friday. Tickets, which are $10 in advance or $15 at the door, include food and musical entertainment.

Brody Buster, who has grown from a armonica wunderkind to a mature bluesman, will get the music started at 2 p.m. as he promotes his new CD, “Will Die Young,” just out from MudStomp Records. One-man band Charlie Barber will continue the music from 3 to 5 p.m., followed from 5 to 7 p.m. by Kansas City-based Blue 88.

The Rockin’ Jake band will close the show from 7 to 11 p.m. Now based in southern Florida, harmonica player and vocalist Rockin’ Jake first made his mark playing blues, swampfunk and zydeco in New Orleans.

Jim Gill Family Concert

Jim Gill, a child development specialist who has become an in-demand children’s entertainer, will perform one of his unique concerts, in which kids and their parents learn to sing and play together, from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday in Marvin Auditorium of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, 1515 S.W. 10th. The producer of six full-length albums and two chldren’s books will at the free program inspire kids to dance, too. To sample his music, go to www.jimgill.com.

Sandquist Family Recital

The musical Sandquist family — Art and Carolyn and their sons, Peter, 13, and Patrick, 10, — will perform a concert of violin, viola and cello music at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Lutheran Church, 1234 S.W. Fairlawn Road. The family of string players will be assisted by pianist Kristi Baker, cellist Dawn Blair and vilonist Amanda Wall. Admission is free.

Blues at Bo’s

Uncle Bo’s, the nightclub on the lower level of the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th, also has a blues-packed weekend planned, starting with a return engagement by Denver-based Dan Treanor’s Afrossipi Band, featuring Erica Brown, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Afrosippi covers the gamut of blues, from a down-home field holler to a “smooth as silk” ballad. The cover charge is $10.

Jarekus Singleton, a Mississippi bluesman on the brink of becoming an international blues star, will make his Uncle Bo’s debut at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets for his show also are $10, which could prove to be a great deal as Singleton’s star should rise with his new CD, “Refuse to Lose,” issued recently by Chicago-based Alligator Records.

The focus on talent will turn local Sunday when Uncle Bo’s serves as the venue for the Topeka Blues Society’s local qualifier for the 2015 International Blues Challenge. Starting at noon and with a suggested donation of $5, the audience can help judges select the band and solo/duo act that will represent Topeka in Memphis, Tenn., at the world’s largest blues competition.

Harley Party

The 15th annual Boys and Girls Clubs of Topeka’s Harley Party moves downtown to the 100 block of S.W. 8th in front of The Celtic Fox, 118 S.W. 8th, where dinner will be served from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday followed by music by Jarrod Guth and the headliner, The Rainmakers. Tickets are limited to 1,000 and there might not be any available at the gate. All remaining tickets will be available for purchase in person until 3 p.m. Saturday at Topeka Harley-Davidson, 2047 S.W, Topeka Blvd.

TARC Benefit Concert

Another benefit concert, this one the Sporting Clays for Kids After Party for TARC, will be from 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday in the Regency Ballroom of the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th, where doors open at 6 p.m. The Brothers Blue will perform at 7 p.m., followed at 8:30 p.m. by the RockDocs. A $10 donation at the door goes directly to TARC, which aids children with intellectual disabilities. A cash bar and barbecue dinner tickets also will be available.

Last Minute Folk

The fall edition of the Last Minute Folk series will get started at 7:30 p.m. Saturday when Vanessa Lively makes her third appearance in the acoustic music series staged in the listener-friendly Scanland Hall of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Topeka, 4751 S.W. 21st, where doors will open at 7 p.m. Tickets for Lively’s show are $15 at the door or $12 in advance at www.uuft.org/lmf, which also lists the series’ other fall shows.

The San Antonio, Texas-born, Austin-based singer-songwriter who also spent time in South America, offers an eclectic blend of folk and world music. Lively’s concert will include tracks from her just-released CD “Return to Waves,” which was recorded over the course of four months, during which Vanessa was pregnant with her first child.

Topeka Jazz Workshop Inc. Concert Series

The Topeka Jazz Workshop Inc. Concert Series, which if not the oldest continuous jazz series in the country is certainly one of the longest-running, will begin its 46th season at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Regency Ballroom of the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th, with a performance by the Topeka Jazz Workshop Band, directed by Ryan Simpson, and jazz trombonist Bill Waltrous, who is regarded as one of the best on that instrument.

The local big band has been rehearsing charts sent to it by Waltrous, who has played and recorded with such jazz luminaries as Maynard Ferguson, Quincy Jones and Kai Windling. A band leader, studio musician and soloist, Waltrous also teaches at the Univesity of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.

Admission to Topeka Jazz Workshop Inc. concerts is by season ticket, which cost $145 and is good for Sunday’s opening show plus eight other Sunday afternoon performances. Visit www.topekajazz.com to see the rest of the season lineup. Season subscriptions can be purchased at the door or in advance by contacting Marcene Grimes, TJW Inc. executive director, at mgrimes14@cox.net or (785) 379-5169.

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